photo by: Derek Redd

Guntry President Rick Landsman stands in front of a rendering of his company's future facility at The Highlands during an announcement Monday at the Highlands Sports Complex.

TRIADELPHIA — Officials with a massive gun training and shooting center in Maryland are taking a shot and aiming for success in West Virginia, Ohio County and The Highlands.

Guntry, described as a “high-end shooting range” in Owings Mills, Maryland, will place a second location at The Highlands within the next year, according to Rick Landsman, Guntry president.

The new business announcement took place Monday at The Highlands Sports Complex, with local and state leaders in attendance. Guntry is investing $13 million in the project, and is expecting to employ 66 people after completion.

The 50,000 square foot facility will be located in front of the Hampton Inn at The Highlands and visible from Cabela Drive. The company has created its own address — 44 Caliber Drive.

JD&E Construction of Wheeling has been hired as the general contractor.

“They’ve actually started clearing the property now,” Landsman said. “We’re looking to break ground within the next 15-20 days.The builders say it’s going to take about 12 months, but we’re going to push them a bit.

“We would like to be open by the end of summer. By next fall, we should be up and running.”

While the facility will have the amenities of a country club, it will be open to the public and geared toward firearms education and gun safety, according to information provided by Guntry.

It will have both 25-yard and 100-yard shooting lanes in a climate-controlled environment with proper ventilation systems.

Additionally, Guntry at The Highlands will feature a 340-degree interactive simulator and an 80-person training room to assist with law enforcement training.

Landsman said the Maryland facility “is busy most every day of the week.”

Guntry offers membership packages, and a firearms pro shop will accommodate onsite gun storage and offer used and gun transfer sales.

Landsman was in law enforcement for 35 years in Baltimore County, Maryland before retiring as a lieutenant. In 2008, he started a security company with a colleague, Brian Wolf.

By 2018, the company was in need of a place to train their employees, he continued. That led to Guntry opening four years ago.

“It got to the point where we needed someplace to train our people,” Landsman explained. “We started with a small little range design, but once we got investors involved it morphed into a giant 64,000-square-foot facility. We’re expanding now to another 25,000 square feet.”

It was in 2021 that Jason Rine, business development manager for Regional Economic Development (RED) Partnership, traveled to Maryland for a family event that later was postponed due to rain. He and about 10 others opted to spend a Sunday at Guntry, and Rine said the group had “an unbelievable time.”

“I told my wife going home,’This has The Highlands written all over it,'” he continued. “So I cold-called these guys, drove back to Maryland and made our pitch, and begged them to come see the area.

“And 30 months later here we are.”

Landsman said he and others came to look at The Highlands, and thought it was a feasible location for a second Guntry.

“I immediately fell in love with the place,” he said.

While in Ohio County he met with local officials and representatives from police departments.

“On the way home, I get a call from the governor (Jim Justice),” Landsman continued. “I said this is the place we want to be.

“They see our vision. They see our dreams. This is what we want to do. … We loved the way West Virginia spoke to us when we came up, and we loved the area.”

Landsman and his team had hoped Justice and his ever-present bulldog Babydog could come to the announcement on Monday, but they were not able to make it.

But they brought a present for Babydog — a tactical hoodie “so that she has attire to wear for the ribbon cutting,” he said.

Two managers from the Guntry location in Owings Mills plan to move locally once the location at The Highlands is completed.

Landsman said if it weren’t “for kids and grandkids,” he would move to the Ohio Valley, but instead he will travel here every week and spend “three or four days at a time.”

Landsman said he probably will buy a home here as he continues to run the facility in Owings Mills.

Accompanying Landsman to The Highlands on Monday were Wolf and other Guntry co-owners Mark Gogal and Neil Kravitz. Investors Rick Lobo and James Mauser also made the trip.

Josh Jefferson, president of the Regional Economic Development Partnership, opened Monday’s announcement event.

“Like many of our friends in the state, we emphasize the importance of partnerships – beginning them, building them and maintaining them,” he said. “So the success of any economic development project is due to the partnerships we begin, build and maintain.”

Mary Jo Guidi, field representative for U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia; and Jessica Cross, field representative for Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito, R-West Virginia, presented remarks on behalf of the senators.

Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, also president of the Ohio County Development Authority, indicated the OCDA often keeps a low profile.

“We don’t cut too many ribbons, and we don’t have as many press conferences as we should,” he said. “I think I’m going to look to correct that because they give you the opportunity to thank the people that do the work everyday to make things like this possible.”

He thanked the OCDA members.

“Without their help, and with The Highlands as it is situated today, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today,” Wharton continued. “We wouldn’t have the property in place, or the roads and bridges.”

He also thanked Brian Taylor, operations director for the OCDA; County Administrator Randy Russell; and officials with WesBanco.

“You can’t do this without money. Money is the mother’s milk of economic development. Don’t let anybody tell you that it is not,” Wharton said. “You can have all the property in the world, but if you don’t have money, nothing happens.”